Did you ever watch George Carlin's classic take on golf courses?
On a related topic:
The same arguments can be made against lawns, especially in North America. They are not really 'green spaces'. They need to be artificially maintained. They demand human and natural resources that could be better used elsewhere. They are (it has been argued) a status symbol. Here's a little bit of lawn history (which you might already know).
I live in the Northeast (USA) and when first introduced to the idea of maintaining a lawn was stunned by the amount resources necessary. The concept of edging (cutting around the edges with a specialized tool) seemed particularly bizarre to me. I had grown up in a rural area where grass just grew. It would be cut occasionally in the front with a scythe😄.
You can see your casual blog today hit a note with me. As for being obsolete: the very fact that you can reflect on such matters shows your value. What would generations of people born after us do without such 'wisdom'? 😇 We (those of us who can remember Sputnik as part of lived experience rather than as history) are valuable, irreplaceable human artifacts.
My opinion: you don't need the golf course, but people do need a place to live.
Ah yes, I remember "Brother George" on golf courses!
Although I do recognize that the golf course is gradually growing "irrelevant," I can't help but also think of Joni Mitchell's classic "Big Yellow Taxi:"
Personally, I hate lawns and am a bit fan of the "grow, don't mow" initiative in nearby British Columbia — use your space to either grow food (we do, a little more, every year) or xeriscape it with native plants. In another 2-3 years, I hope to now even own a mower...
As for what they'll do here, I don't know. Whereas people do need places to live, our city council is substantially populated with California transplants and I don't entirely trust them to actually create affordable housing, rather than another slew of "luxury homes" nobody local can afford.
Thank you for Joni Mitchell :) I don't think I ever heard the words so clearly.
We're moving, if we can ever clear our current house of 48 years of accumulated stuff. New house I hope to start out fresh, with native plants, and a nice garden.
Good luck with the golf course. I wouldn't trust those transplants either.😇